When we first found out we were having a baby, COVID-19 didn’t exist. We were overjoyed and couldn’t wait for this new human to join our family! We also couldn’t wait for our family to visit us from India before the delivery (both my husband’s and my parents live in India), and for our 2-year-old to spend some quality time with his grandparents. Moreover, as new parents, we were hoping to lean against their emotional support and experience.

But then a global pandemic hit, and it all changed. We soon realized it’s not safe for our family to take this 24 hour long flight to be here with us.

That realization hit me with so many questions:

 Just thinking about all these questions was enough to send me down a spiral of worries. That’s when my husband came in with a notebook and pen (yes – he believes in lists – Thank God for that, because I’m not very good at it), and we came up with a plan for all of the scenarios that were playing in my head.

I was five days away from my due date. By now we had hired a doula and a sibling doula (an on call nanny who takes care of the older sibling in the absence of parents.) We also made arrangements with our neighbors incase of any mishaps. Amidst the pandemic, we had a plan along with some back up plans!

Then came the time to plan something fun! I DIYed face masks and non skid socks that said “Ready To Pop” to carry with me to the delivery room. I’m a big fan of dancing and wanted to spend most of my labor dancing. I learnt a routine by @teamnaach to dance to when I went into labor.

But the little boy inside me had different plans 😅

D-Day arrived. I started feeling contractions around 1pm. They weren’t consistent or long enough for us to head to the hospital yet, but we made a call to let the on call doctor know that we might have to come to the hospital later. The labor, however, progressed  fast and by 2:30 PM I was getting 40 secs contractions every 10 mins.

Annndd we knew it was time to leave.

Our neighbors – the kindest souls – would check on us every other day as we approached our due date. As soon as we told them about the contractions, they came over to look after our older one.

When we reached the hospital, my OBGYN was already there (thanks to the call we made in advance). She did her checks and said that I’m already 10cm dilated and it’s time to push.

Wait a second! I just reached the hospital – what about my picture in the mask and socks?  What about me dancing through the labor? Is it time to push already? It can’t be!!

But our boy didn’t want to wait another minute. Even before I changed into the hospital gown, I had this urge to just push the baby out. 1 push and at 4PM our baby boy was in our arms!  I knew second babies are quick at coming out but I definitely wasn’t expecting it to be so soon.   So what worked for us to help it all go smoothly, in the middle of a GLOBAL CRISIS? Having Plan A. And also plan B, C and D.